Chirality in organic and pharmaceutical chemistry plays a major role. While a vast majority of the new drugs introduced in the global pharmaceutical arena are chiral drugs and are resolved, there are a number of drugs in various therapeutic category that are still racemic and diaastereromeric mixtures, such as Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) based on the structure of aryl propionic acid such as ibuprofen and other classes of drugs such as labatelol.
Drugs work in the mammalian body with so called pharmacological “receptors” that have specific shape whereby the drug molecules can only fit into these receptors like a “glove”. Since it is not possible to superimpose a left handed glove on a right handed glove, the mirror images of the molecules are not superimposable.
The development of chemical compounds for the treatment of disorders, maladies and diseases has become increasingly difficult and costly. The probability of success for such development is often discouragingly low. Further, the time for development can approach or exceed ten years, leaving large numbers of patients without remedy for an extended period of time. In addition, the costs of developing a new drug for the treatment of any malady of significance might exceed a Billion dollars in a few years.
Even in cases in which effective pharmaceutical compounds have been developed, there are often disadvantages associated with their administration. These disadvantages can include aesthetic, biopharmaceutic, and pharmacokinetic bafflers affecting the effectiveness of some existing pharmaceutical compounds. For example, unpleasant taste or smell of a pharmaceutical compound or composition can be a significant barrier to patient compliance with respect to the administration regimen. The undesirable solubility characteristics of a pharmaceutical compound can also cause difficulty in the formulation of a homogeneous composition. Other disadvantages associated with known pharmaceutical compounds include: poor absorption of orally administered formulations; poor bioavailability of the pharmaceutical compounds in oral formulations; lack of dose proportionality; low stability of pharmaceutical compounds in vitro and in vivo; poor penetration of the blood/brain barrier; excessive first-pass metabolism of pharmaceutical compounds as they pass through the liver; excessive enterohepatic recirculation; low absorption rates; ineffective compound release at the site of action; excessive irritation, for example, gastrointestinal irritability and/or ulceration; painful injection of parenterally administered pharmaceutical compounds and compositions; excessively high dosages required for some pharmaceutical compounds and compositions, and other undesirable characteristics. Some pharmaceutical compounds are processed by the body to produce toxic by-products with harmful effects.
The art is continually seeking new chemical compounds for the treatment of a wide variety of disorders, with improved properties to overcome the disadvantages of known pharmaceutical compounds mentioned above.
The present invention has overcome many problems associated with currently marketed drugs by making a derivative thereof. The concept of derivatives is well known, and there are a number of examples of such derivatives enumerated in the literature and there are a number of derivatives available in the market, including such diverse groups as statin drugs, ACE inhibitors, antiviral drugs such as Acyclovir and the like.
The present invention, however, uses specifically L-Threonine as the moiety to make the derivatives.